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Trumbo mans right field for fifth position in '12

Trumbo mans right field for fifth position in '12

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Mark Trumbo

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ST. PETERSBURG -- The Angels weren't kidding when they told Mark Trumbo he needed to be flexible. On Tuesday, for the series opener against the Rays at Tropicana Field, the right-handed slugger started at his fifth position in the season's first month -- right field, as the No. 5 hitter.

In an effort to get his bat in the lineup as often as possible, especially against lefties, Trumbo has previously started at third base (four times), designated hitter (three), first base and left field (one each).

Since April 13, though, Trumbo has started just one game at third base -- a position he worked on for most of Spring Training but has seen him already commit three errors.

"It's a work in progress," said manager Mike Scioscia, who trotted out his 15th different lineup for Game No. 17. "I think in spring he showed the skill set to do what we feel a third baseman needs to do. It's just that he had a couple of bumps in the road early, but we're still working on it. He played third the other night, and we're going to still mix it in there."

With Trumbo in right and lefty David Price on the mound, Kendrys Morales got a day off for the second straight game and Torii Hunter made his first start of the season at DH -- where he started 19 games last year.

"He's going to definitely DH today because of the turf," Scioscia said, "and we'll see how the rest of this series goes. I don't know if [his DH days are] going to be greater [than last year], but we're going to pick our spots."